


jokes on you; we're still alive

by invertedrainbow



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, M/M, how ironic is that, in which dr. free dr. jones and nurse narvaez are vampires working in a hospital, vampire nurse au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-12
Updated: 2014-02-12
Packaged: 2018-01-12 02:38:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1180933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/invertedrainbow/pseuds/invertedrainbow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It annoys Joel so much how he finds the nurse cute, but whatever. He could at least have some fun while he’s bedridden in some obscure hospital, so he tries to observe the tiniest details about Ray just to have fun.</p><p>Ray is probably a little too pale for his descent, but otherwise he seems fine. The dark rings under his eyes indicate his workaholic nature; he might be pushing 16 hour shifts and still manage to be alive. His eyes are dark, almost black in color. His smile is mysterious yet genuine, and his touches are cold. When Joel asks, Ray answers that the thermostat in the nurse’s lounge is cold as dicks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	jokes on you; we're still alive

Joel Heyman probably has a lot of enemies.

“A lot” is sweet talking about it, of course: the mafia he’s against with never forgives and never forgets, thus the gaping stab wounds on him right now. The ambulance is rather quick and he reminds himself to remember giving them gifts they may or may not accept. Either way, he’ll be thanking them. If he lives.

They start cutting his suit apart, much to his horror, to press on to the wounds to stop the bleeding. The wound on his left hurts to oblivion and he could barely hoist himself up due to the wounds on his arms. There is blood everywhere; it scares him how familiar the smell is and how weak he is to not even care, because everything is blurring out and he is passing out.

—

When Joel wakes up, it hurts  _everywhere_.

A male nurse is checking his vitals and charting it up, and he smiles when he sees that Joel is awake. He gives Joel a few more dosages of pain relievers and tetanus toxoid and manages to fix the intravenous fluid attached to him before excusing himself to call the doctors, and Joel manages to stay awake until then.

Apparently, there are two doctors who operated him: Dr. Michael Jones, and Dr. Gavin Free. Both look significantly young and carefree, but had a tone of professionalism in them, so Joel decides to trust them.

“You had good luck, Mr. Heyman. Any minute later and you would have lost too much blood for us to save,” Dr. Free tells him, and Joel isn’t sure if he should be smiling the same way the doctors are. They look a little pale with their dark bags under their eyes, and their dark eyes seem to stare at his very soul. Joel looks away. Dr. Free continues. “Unfortunately, we need to transfuse a lot of blood and that’s gonna cost you, but if you have relatives who can donate blood, then we can dock some dollars off the bill.”

“That wouldn’t be an issue, doc,” Joel almost grins. “Do as you wish and I will pay without mishaps.”

“Fantastic then,” Dr. Jones interjects, suddenly pulling the nurse behind him. “By the way, this is your nurse for most of your stay, or at least until he gets off his shift. He’s Ray Narvaez Jr.”

The nurse smiles as he adjusts his glasses, and Joel could sense the same aura from him as he did from the doctors.

Joel decides not to think about it that much.

Soon, the doctors are talking about the treatment: they had to cut the suit to pieces, much to Dr. Free’s horror (“I know a good suit when I see one,” he says.) but other than that, there are no casualties. Blood will be transfused in the next few hours due to the lack of it in his system still; they are testing his blood for possible complications and checking the blood banks for stock. Somehow, as they talked about blood and transfusion, their tone drops and becomes a little sinister, something Joel would never notice if he isn’t in the Mafia business, but it is there.

“You should also thank Nurse Ray for the good job in the ambulance; he is our go-to in case of emergencies, and he rarely rides the ambulance since he’s in the most stressful ward there is, but he was free that night so he willingly helped,” Dr. Free adds, to which the nurse acknowledges with a scratch on the head.

“He’s one of our top nurses, so rest assured, he will take good care of you,” Dr. Jones tells him. The air is tense and Joel could gag on it, but if he does, then he loses. “We should probably get going; duty calls.”

“Yea, and that pleb Burnie owes me lunch,” Dr. Free says as they walk towards the door. Before leaving, he looks back and reminds, “Don’t hesitate to call us if you have inquiries, Mr. Heyman. We’d be happy to assist you.”

The doctors’ absence is a breath of fresh air; Joel sighs deeply and closes his eyes.

“Are you okay, Mr. Heyman?”

Oh. The nurse is still here.

“Please, for the love of god, call me Joel. I feel so old when you call me that,” Joel tells him, and to his surprise, the nurse laughs.

“Call me Ray, then, and I’d consider calling you Joel,” Ray tells him as he looks at the chart. “Transfusion starts around 4 in the afternoon. I will personally be running through the whole thing and the procedures beforehand, so rest assured.”

It annoys Joel so much how he finds the nurse cute, but whatever. He could at least have some fun while he’s bedridden in some obscure hospital. He tries to observe the tiniest details about Ray just to have fun.

Ray is probably a little too pale for his descent, but otherwise he seems fine. The dark rings under his eyes indicate his workaholic nature; he might be pushing 16 hour shifts and still manage to be alive. His eyes are dark, almost black in colour. His smile is mysterious yet genuine, and his touches are cold. When Joel asks, Ray answers that the thermostat in the nurse’s lounge is cold as dicks.

“Anyway, I’ll be back in a few hours to check on your vitals again, then we’ll start with the transfusion,” Ray says, bringing up his chart in view. He points at the button near the bed. “If you need me, push the button.”

“Will do.”

—

When Ray comes back to his private room, he looks even paler now, and his eyes are bloodshot.

Joel figures it’s because of his seniors in the ward, and he decides not to ask about it. Ray tries to smile at him but only settles with a lopsided grin as he brings forward the bag he has on hand, his grip on it tight. Upon starting the transfusion, Dr. Jones and Dr. Free enter the room to inspect.

“Before anything else, you must know that you have every right to decline blood transfusion,” Dr. Jones tells him, and Joel nods. “Should we push through?”

“Yeah.”

Ray is swift with his movements when he starts the transfusion, his gaze straight to the bag. Dr. Jones leaves then, his strides hurried. Dr. Free pats Ray’s shoulder before leaving, giving it a little squeeze. Ray nods but never breaks eye contact, and Joel is creeped out, sort of, with the way Ray is gripping at his chart so tightly that his knuckles have turned white.

“Are you okay?” Joel asks, and Ray looks at him blankly for a second before his lips tugged into a smile.

Everything happens a little too fast in the next 15 minutes when Joel starts getting dizzy, his temperature rapidly rising. He vaguely remembers saying something about the thermostat and a very weird action done by his nurse.

After calling Dr. Free and Dr. Jones, Nurse Ray pulls the cord that connects the blood bag to Joel, causing a huge mess on his scrub suit. He smiles before licking the mess on his fingers.

—

When he wakes up, Ray looks more invigorated compared to earlier, and Joel almost forgets about the last thing he sees before passing out.

“Hey, you’re up!”

“What happened?” Joel asks, rubbing his temples dearly.

“You had a hemolytic transfusion reaction,” Ray explains as he fixes another blood bag for transfusion. “You’re Rh positive, apparently. Lack of analysis in our part; we are deeply sorry.”

“Nah, it’s okay. No harm done. Besides,” Joel eyes him curiously to see if he’ll elicit a reaction. “I think I helped you, one way or another.”

Ray freezes in his spot for a healthy five seconds before saying, “You absolutely did,  _Joel_.”

“May I just say that you look absolutely fantastic now? A little color did you good, Ray.”

“Oh, stop it, you’re bringing blood on my cheeks,” Ray smiles coyly, toying with the cord stuck to Joel. He stares back to his watch and fakes a frown. “Golly me, look at the time. Since you’re not reacting to this batch, I guess I have to go.” He leans forward to change the flow of blood to 4 ml/minute, and before he could draw back, Joel kisses him on the nose.

“A farewell gift. Besides, I think I deserve more than that after my help, don’t you think?”

“I’ll be back in a few hours,” Ray says as he hides the real blush he is sporting, and Joel cackles when he runs off.

 

 

 

“Michaelmichaelmichaelmichaelmichaelmichaelmichaelmichael—“

“What,” Michael removes his glasses from his face and slams it on the table, his annoyance off the hook. “the  _fuck_ , Ray.”

“ _He knows_.”

—

Soon, Gavin and Michael are mad at him, telling him to be careful because  _feeding in the hospital is so risky_ , and the incident about the transfusion already cost them so much time to clean up the mess. A lot of Hydrogen Peroxide is used to clean their uniforms and they stink to heavens above, so thank god for extra uniforms.

“Why the fuck haven’t you been feeding at home? Jesus fucking Christ, Ray, you know how unsafe it is here,” Michael growls, his arms crossed.

“Well, sorry for running 16 hour shifts in lieu the sick leaves,  _doctor_. I thought I was doing everyone a favour,” Ray mumbles back.

“Seriously X-Ray, you need to be more careful!” Gavin sighs, not wanting to add to the distress. “When was your last feed?”

“About two weeks ago?”

“Jesus,” the doctors groan.

“What? I can take it.”

“What’s worse is you’re drinking that synthetic blood that tastes like shit,” Michael says, his tone strained by absolute disgust. “It satiates the need and hunger but it’s never fucking enough, and now you’re telling us that you’re not even fucking drinking it regularly? Jesus.”

“Have at least three days per week to feed, you pleb! You’re bound to bite our patients when you lose control,” Gavin says as he reaches for a book on the top shelf. Pathophysiology, Ray thinks. When asked, Gavin explains, “I’ve got this rare case.”

“You do damage control. I won’t be transferring hospitals anytime soon and I suggest you do it quick before he goes on an insane rampage, you fuck,” Michael tells Ray as he goes back to the nurses’ lounge, to which Ray responds with a finger held high. “Go the fuck home, asshole!”

—

Ray is never supposed to be Joel’s nurse. It’s sort of an accident.

Before leaving his 2-10 pm shift, he stays in the longue with his friends Caleb Denecour and Lindsay Tuggey, both who know nothing about his condition. They are starting their 10-6 shift in a while when Ray is summoned by “the doctors”, a.k.a. the prodigies Dr. Jones and Dr. Free.

“Do us a favour and replace the paramedic on the ambulance outside? We have direct orders that the patient to be picked up is to be operated by us,” Gavin Free asks, and he nods immediately. They often request Ray to assist them on every operation to the extent of ambulance work, just to know what they’re working with. “When does your shift end?”

“Now, actually. Do I have to run?” Ray asks, and they nod accordingly. He bolts down the stairs to reach the ambulance in time, and he manages to tell the paramedic to scram before the ambulance left.

They reach an obscure place Ray only remembers from years ago, when he didn’t know better and fed directly from humans. It is inhabited by the mafia people that run this city, and he would know; he encounters some of them in a regular basis when he was younger and they aren’t nice.

Upon reaching the place, a man in a suit is down the ground on his own pool of blood, and Ray almost lurches at the patient. The smell is spellbindingly good: rich, thick and  _fresh_ , something unachievable in drinking synthetic blood, or from blood bags, even. He manages to stay sane throughout the ride, performing first aid at lightning speed just to stop the bleeding.

The rate of blood loss is bad enough, and Ray knows that if they arrived even a minute late, the patient would have died.

They launch a Code Omega in the OR, where they transfuse a few bags in the patient’s system before starting the operation. Gavin and Michael commend Ray for a job well done, but before he could leave, Michael asks, “Are you okay?”

Ray nods. He goes straight to the employees’ bathroom and sees his bloody scrub suit and bloody hands. He walks in the cubicle and licks the blood off his hands, where he abandons his senses and he almost bites himself in the process. Whoever that man is, his blood is beyond  _amazing_.

He counts to ten in the hopes of calming himself down, but he wants more of the blood.

Something in him broke the moment he smelled the blood; the very thing that he has been suppressing for ages, and for the first time in a long time, he is nervous.

—

The problem is once that Ray has established the fact that his patient, Joel Heyman, has amazing blood for personal consumption, it is followed with the realization that the guy is hot as the 4th of July. It isn’t even a generic “you’re hot and I want to bone you” attraction; it’s more of the “I really like your face can I kiss you” attraction.

It sucks because he has been around for a long time and he has never felt like this before. Well, yeah, maybe when Xbox 360 was released, sure, but this is different. This is a human. A living, breathing, pulsating human being that is probably in his 40’s or so that has a debonair flair, amazing jaw structure and strong built.

He tries to find solace by asking the doctors what he should do, but he ends up rambling about it.

“I don’t understand why he found out so fast,” Ray groans as he twirls around Gavin’s chair, with Gavin leaning on the bookshelf drinking his earl grey.

“Well, you know, maybe because you fucking drank the blood that was supposed to be transfused to him, you fucking idiot,” Obviously pissed Michael is groaning on his seat then, while Gavin grinned with much gusto and intent, it was almost malicious. Ray and Gavin maintain eyecontact until Gavin says, “X-Ray’s got a crush on the old wanker!”

“What? No!” Ray denies a little too fast, his face turning red in embarrassment, if it was even possible. “I just—“

“Just what, Ray? Just managed to fuck up our whole cover in one sitting? Because  _goddamn dude_ , you are fucking great at it!”

“What  _is_  wrong, Ray? Tell Uncle Gavy-Wavy.”

“I sort of,” Ray sighs before continuing. “tasted. His blood.”

“And?” Gavin urges.

“It’s top,” Ray answers.

“Then what seems to be the problem, lad? We all taste people’s blood one way or another, even if you’re going clean with the synthetic blood, but that’s fine,” Gavin tells Ray, pacing around the room for the lack of anything better to do. “What’s so different with this one?”

“He’s strong,” Ray mumbles, ashamed of his attraction to Joel. It’s almost as if he’s having “the talk” again, only this time, with the endless urge to drain his crush dry. “I shouldn’t be drawn to actual blood as much as I should, because of, you know, the synthetic blood. But his’ was… wow.”

“And that, folks, is what a virgin sounds like when he’s having an orgasm for the first time,” Michael chides, causing a boisterous laughter from Gavin while Ray made a face. “Let me help you out, Ray. Take the day off.”

“But, the charting—“

“Caleb will take your place in the meantime, lad,” Gavin assures.

“But the dosage of his meds—“

“Is on the damn charts, idiot. I will not let you do a 24-hour shift, or so help me, I will break your legs if I have to,” Michael warns.

“Why are you trying to keep me away?” Ray is starting to get annoyed, and it shows; with the way his tone completely changed and the way he taps his feet against the floor.

“Because,” Michael should, and for a second, the atmosphere is tense. “If you don’t go home, you can’t feed, and if you don’t feed, you will fucking murder my patient! We are professionals before we satisfy our urges, Ray! We promised!”

And Ray understands completely, so he lowers his gaze on the floor in shame. Years ago, they promised to dedicate their life to actually saving people for a change, knowing that their death toll is far too huge and cannot be fixed. It seems like the only way to redeem themselves after the long years of blindingly feeding just because.

Gavin places a hand on his shoulder and smiles widely, saying, “I understand, X-Ray. Why don’t you feed and rest at that one room in repair right now down the hall? It’s almost done and just needs some wiring. That way, you don’t have to go home!”

“Gavin, don’t encourage him,” Michael rolls his eyes, but Gavin stands his ground.

“Come on, Michael. Ray never gets to socialize as much as we do, and now that he’s taking interest, would you deprive him of that?”

“No, but this is a different case! The guy saw Ray feed!”

“Now that we’re discussing, how did the guy react to it, anyway?” Gavin asks.

“He said he deserves more because he helped me feed, technically…?” Ray answers cautiously, slightly raising his gaze to see how the two reacted.

“He  _what_?” Michael almost screams, while Gavin proceeded on laughing his ass out.

“Amazing how kinky the bastard is! Ray, you’ve got yourself a keeper!”

—

And it is arranged: Ray will stay in the room in repair (which happens to be the room adjacent to Joel’s, go figure) and fee. At least two bags, which is probably more than enough for Ray. Then, he will rest until his next shift.

With the bags heavy in hand, he tears into one and drinks greedily, the need suddenly pounding in his head, screaming for more and more and more. His fangs are growing at an incredible rate, helping him tear the plastic off with ease.

He hates how compared to Joel’s blood, the one in his hands is old, thin and tasteless, the age of the blood obviously affecting the supposed to be good taste. But he drinks, mainly, to ignore the dying urge to drain Joel up, because he is delicious as he is beautiful, and Ray is unsure which he likes better.

He moans when he tears into another again, or until he hears a creak behind him and he remembers, he never locked the door.

 

 

 

Joel Heyman is both impatient and stupid.

Impatient, because when Ray said that he’ll be back in a few hours, he actually believed that he’ll be there in the next 2-3 hours. He holds on to every word Ray says because of two things: one, he is a nurse, and nurses know shit. Two, he is attracted to his nurse, and now that he knows his secret, Joel believes that he would at least try to save his image from possible culpability.

But he is wrong on that, and he is never wrong.

So it pisses him off, mostly. Grabbing the IV and other shit attached to him, he yanks it with all off and slides off the bed in search for pants, at least, so he could leave. He finds a pair of sweatpants that is probably left by the management for him, given the fact that they ruined his suit. Besides, it’s not like anyone would visit him.

He sighs as he wears the sweatpants, going commando because he apparently has no choice. The hospital gown was no help at all, but hey, sweatpants is better than none.

He figures it’s late at night, with the way some of the lights in the hall are closed. He treks it down slowly and quietly, and when he tries to peer in the nurses’ lounge, there is no one there. He thinks about nurses going on rounds around the ward, so he quickly walks back to his room, only to forget which one it is.

There are two doors, the left and the right. He remembers that it’s one of the two doors, so he takes caution to the wind and enters the right.

 

 

 

There stands Joel with his stupid delighted grin and he closes the door behind him and remembering to lock this time, causing Ray to push himself away until his back is against the wall. There is blood all over his scrub suit and the almost empty blood bag is on his lap now. Joel is eyeing him curiously, not really knowing what to do.

“Leave,” Ray tells him, but Joel is a stubborn asshole. “If you die, it’s not my fault.”

“Nah, you won’t kill me,” Joel is walking towards him now, stepping on the scattered blood and smudging it against the floor. “I’m too precious to your well being.”

“More like a fucking nightmare, god,” Ray groans as he attempts to wipe off the blood on his mouth with his arm. “I really insist you leave; I’m still not full.”

And it is true. Now with Joel’s healing wounds in the picture, he could smell the blood he oh so craves and he closes his eyes, focusing on other things: the feel of blood on his hands, the sound of feet against the floor, the warmth radiating from this annoying human… His eyes bolt open when he feels Joel’s hand on his cheeks and he says nothing when Joel comes impossibly closer, but not close enough.

He could hear Joel’s pulse and he shivers. Joel smiles. “I could give it, you know.”

“It won’t be the same,” Ray breathes out. “You had transfusion. It’s not your pure blood.”

“Still mine, though,” Joel mumbles when he leans closer, his lips against Ray’s neck, and Ray’s breath hitches. “Does it taste good?”

“Y-yes,” Ray answers with a breathy sigh, his hand finding its way to Joel’s hair, guiding him along his neck and collarbones. To his surprise, Joel stands up and sits down the bed, patting the empty space next to him. Ray rolls his eyes and sits with him anyway.

It happens fast, the way Ray would ask Joel to lie down properly for him, and the way he would sit on Joel’s crotch area, rocking his hips for the friction, and Joel’s grunts sound better than he thought. He tries to be careful on hitting Joel’s scattered wounds, especially the one on his side, but Joel, with his amazing hands that slid under his scrub suit, touching every nook of his chest, keeps on urging him to go for it.

Their chest are linked together when they kiss, and Ray knows how uncomfortable the taste of blood is for Joel, so he tries to hold back from biting Joel’s lower lip, only nibbling softly, but when Joel slides his hands on his ass, he is caught by surprise and accidentally bites Joel’s lip.

Blood.

He knows Joel saw it, the way he stiffens and waits for an approval, so when Joel lets him lick it off, his patience is strained and every sense in him is heightened. Fresh blood has always been a drug to him but this is different; this is so much better, and the way he’s stopping himself for diving in for more is impressive, even for him.

Joel asks him to lick his fingers, whispering, “Lick ‘em good because soon they’ll be  _inside you_ ,” and he obeys, running his tongue over those nimble digits, and the only reaction he is getting from Joel is an occasional chuckle, it annoys Ray to no end. When Joel prods a finger on his opening, his forehead is on Joel’s chest and he is whispering, “Just do it, Joel, come on.”

It isn’t his first time with a man. But, it’s the first time that it mattered.

With their fully clothed erections ignored, Ray pulls the waist band of Joel’s sweatpants down, giving his cock a few tugs.

“Your hands are cold,” Joel grunts out.

“They always are,” Ray mumbles.

“Feels good.”

Ray is given no chance to react when Joel finds his sweet spot, and he straight up thrusts into Joel’s fingers for something,  _anything_ , and he knows it’s shameless, but with the way Joel’s cock is twitching against his hand, he knows he should at least make this enjoyable for the both of them.

When Joel slides off his fingers out of Ray to flip them over, Ray stops him by pushing him down and keeping him there.

“What the fuck, Ray.”

Ray positions himself to take in Joel and Joel watches him with absolute delight, but when Ray slides down on him, Joel is left with “shit, Ray,  _god_ ” on his lips, and Ray knows he’s doing fine. He takes his time on getting used to it; Joel is bigger than he expected. But when asshole thrusts up, Ray lets out the most lewd sound and he knows how much Joel wants to hear it again.

But it doesn’t work that way.

“Stop,” Ray gasps out. “Let me fucking ride you, asshole.”

“But—“

“You’re not connected to your IV; you’re tired enough as it is.”

“Do you have this habit of making sex unappealing? God, and here I thought hospital sex is supposed to be a kink of mine,” Joel tells him, and as an answer, Ray thrusts down on him, trying to set a rhythm. Joel helps by pulling him down by the hips, every thrust completed by Ray’s moaning.

 It continues for a while, Joel burying himself in Ray with the constant “ _ahh, shit, god, Joel_ ”. Ray feels absolutely amazing against him, tight and wanton with the way he bucks his ass for even more.

“Close…?” Ray asks, and Joel simply nods as he reaches for Ray’s cock, but Ray leans down and their foreheads are touching. He asks, “Can I…?”

“Will this turn me?”

“No,” Ray assures, so Joel nods. Before anything, Ray gives him a lazy kiss before he licks Joel’s neck, finding the pulse. He lets his arms hoist him up before diving in, his fangs digging in deep, and with the way he is sucking blood off of him with so much desperation, they completely lose their rhythm.

Joel finishes it off with a few more thrusts that made Ray a screaming mess, and with Ray’s name on his lips, he comes, warm against cold, increasing the pulsing sensation felt not only down, but also on his neck, where Ray continues to drink as if his life depended on it.

“Ray,” Joel warns, his tone cautious and nervous. Ray slowly pushes himself up and wipes the blood off again, blushing a healthy shade of red and Joel is glad. “You look perfect.”

“Stop it,” Ray mumbles shyly before slipping Joel’s cock off him, and Joel bites his lip with the sight of his come sliding down Ray’s legs.

“Oh,” is all Joel manages to say before passing out again, and this time, Ray looks absolutely worried.

 

 

 

He wakes up with a loud conversation about sex and blood kink.

“I’m just saying, how come he gets to have good action in the hospital without getting caught? I mean, seriously, what the fuck dude.”

“Well, Ray has always been a pro at these kinds of things.”

“Remember that time when—“

“Yeah, the party! Behind the curtains, the bastard!”

“First of all,” he hears Ray say with absolute disdain in his tone, almost like he’s in his limit. “stop talking about me like I’m not here. Second, how the fuck did you know about the party? Lastly, your patient is awake.”

They all turn to Joel who was half-awake and half sane, with his eyes drooping and head spinning. Ray walks over to check his BP and pulse, both regular and okay.

“We sedated you because we can’t have you going around having sexual interactions with Nurse Ray here while your wounds are still fresh,” Dr. Free tells him while Dr. Jones sniggers. “Even more so now that Nurse Ray added two gaping holes on your neck.”

“As for now, we trust that you two keep your hands off each other until Mr. Heyman’s wounds close up, understood?” Dr. Jones looks straight at Ray, who is rolling his eyes but nodding. The two turns to leave for their next patient, until Joel speaks up.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Joel attempts.

The doctors look back and answer with the sappiest sweetness they could master, “No.”

“They’re furious because I almost turned you,” Ray sighs when they leave, and Joel’s eyes widens. “Look, I understand if you hate me for it, but thanks.” He says shyly, hiding his smile as he fixes the IV in vain. “It was fun.”

“I have to ask though,” Joel mumbles, and Ray looks at him accordingly. “Was it the blood alone?”

“God, no,” Ray replies immediately. “No, no, I don’t have sex with my food—“

“Food…”

“What I mean is,” Ray retracts, his hand going straight to Joel’s cheek. “I really do, um. Like you.”

“Oh,” Joel says, a smile tugging his lips upward. “Is that so?”

“The blood was a bonus, though I did find that appealing first.”

“So if I wasn’t this hot, you would’ve killed me?”

“Definitely.”

Joel looks at him at horror while Ray excuses himself to check on another patient. Before leaving, Ray kisses him on the cheek and grins.

“You’ll be fine,” he assures, and Joel isn’t sure if he should believe him.

**Author's Note:**

> i am gomen for the half-assery that took place at the end


End file.
